Since the original activity from Kosovo was much hampered by a high noise level at both locations particularly on low-bands, a team led by Pertti, OG2M, Miro, OM5RW and Rudy, OM3PC and Driton, Z61DX has put all its effort into hoisting full size verticals for this weekend from a quiet location beyond the city noise. Beverages have been built for the U.S and Japan. They are using a local cell site tower as their supporting structure.

The trio will have two signals on the air throughout the next three (3) nights, on 160, 80, 40 and 30M. In addition, they will still penetrate the 20M openings above 14025 KHz for U.S. Advanced and Generals.

Last night they were able to reach the U.S on 160M and even the West Coast on 80M with only 100 watts thanks to N6TQ and others. Tonight they will have full power.

Early this week also marked another happy occasion as six (6) more Kosovar youth took their exams for amateur radio license.

On Tuesday next week the group at Z60A will start taking apart their two sites, while the towers and beams will soon be QRV with the locals. This first radio activity of the Mission Goodwill Kosovo will soon be history.

The QSL design is in the works, and cards should start coming out by mid-April.

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TQSL 2.4-rc1 is now available for testing. I expect to promote this to a final release in a week unless something serious is found with this build.

I’ve been working along with ARRL staff on a major update to TrustedQSL for some time that adds some support for some critically needed enhancements, particularly related to International Grid Chase.

TQSL now uses an ARRL-supplied source of public information (when it is available) to pre-fill information on Station Locations and Callsign Certificate requests, including grid square and location information such as state, county, province, etc. Grid square entry is now validated against the location for the station’s callsign.

Another critical update fixes the most common cause of users being unable to download and use the .TQ6 file downloaded from the Logbook site in order to recover callsign certificates.

I’m asking for assistance with testing to make sure it’s ready to release to everyone. You can always uninstall and revert to TQSL 2.3.1 but any help with identifying issues with 2.4 will be helpful towards ensuring a successful release.[Note: not all localizations have not yet been updated. Some messages may appear in English. However, we now have a Hindi localization.]

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Our Team expected to be QRV today March 6th, however we were disappointed to get late news from the authorities on Layang Layang that our flight to Spratly Island has been delayed by one day due to "technical reasons". We have confirmed our flight for tomorrow March 7th at 5:45AM and will be QRV as planned but one day later. We will be on the air until March 13th.

Once on Spratly Island (Swallow Reef) we will construct all antennas including phased verticals for 80 and 160 meters. We should be QRV each day for US east coast SS and SR and follow the gray line across the US. We will also be active using FT8 mode.

Right now the team is relaxing but in DXpedition mode and anxious to begin our operation. Please check club log for our daily log uploads.

We would like to thank the DX community for their support. www.yt1ad.info/9m0w/index.html

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MARCH 5 — The 3YØZ team members are safely home. We have been home about two weeks now, after 31 days aboard our vessel M/V Betanzos.

We have been to Bouvet Island, and as a result, we have a better appreciation for the challenges we face. It is a dark, dismal and dangerous place. Yet, when the sun shines, it is magnificent.

The most difficult thing to reflect upon is the final day offshore, when we saw the island, crystal clear in calm winds, less than a mile away. The conditions were perfect for our first reconnaissance flight and possible landing of men and camp infrastructure. But, during the violent night before, the Captain had made the decision to abort. In retrospect, his call was clairvoyant. The mechanical, propulsion failure on the ship that occurred would have brought disaster, if it resulted in some of our men being stranded ashore.

We are sure you are wondering what happens now? Well, we are not the kind of people to give up. The same thing happened when we were trying to activate Peter I in 2005. We came back the following year and with DAP’s (the vessel owner) help, we got it done.

We are optimistic about a fair settlement and a resulting refund of some of our money paid to DAP for this recent attempt to activate Bouvet. That money, and what we still have in the bank will allow us to begin making plans to try again. We have begun the difficult task of looking for a suitable vessel, and would hope to go back to Bouvet in the next year or two. Obviously, we will keep you informed.

Thank you for the hundreds of favorable and encouraging comments from our financial supporters and sponsors. No one has asked for any of their contributions back, and, in fact, many have offered additional support for the next chapter in this book. We are hopeful that those of you who have invested in this project will see fit to “roll over” your financial support to the next attempt.

So, if we can pull all the moving parts together, we are going to try it again. Hopefully, this time, with a different outcome.

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All team members have arrived in Kota Kinabalu Malaysia and will have team meeting tomorrow to discuss final plans. We depart for Spratly Layang Layang early March 6th and should be QRV later in the day. We plan to be QRV on all bands 6M -160M with emphasis on the low bands 160/80M for east coast USA. To help with our high shipping costs to get all antennas and equipment to Spratly, support from the world-wide DX community would be greatly appreciated. Please visit our website www.yt1ad.info/9m0w/index.html.

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One K3 transceiver broke down. Seems that the same fault as during the previous DX-pedition. Spare KX3 is now put in operation and 2 stations are on the air. If the flight to Annobon will be confirmed for Tuesday, then on Monday they will take down the antennas and pack to be ready to move to Annobon. Fresh log upload done. 11 556 QSOs in the log.

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DXing is no longer what it used to be … thanks to new technologies. When I started Dxing, over 30 years ago, rare country hunters would organize VHF network, or would even telephone each other as soon as an extraordinary DX or a missing one would appear on the air. In Bordeaux, we would monitor 145.450 in those days. So we could sometimes hear brief annoucements like “VK9YA is presently on 21.295, split up 5 ; here is F6BKI”.

Today, all internet-connected Dxers share the results of their hunts live, but also the hunt of the whole world, thanks to the world-wide cluster network. A ZL8 appears on 17m, and the whole world knows in a matter of one minute.

Nevertheless, erroneous or useless info occasionnally appear, and I thought it would be nice to remind users of basic rules which, in my humble opinion, should rule the use of the cluster.

The cluster is not meant to make QSO It is more and more common to see two connected hams exchange reports on the cluster, sometimes after having taken a sked on 160m for example. Reports should not be passed on the cluster, but only on the air, otherwise why not telephone each other to make QSO ?? Giving reports over the cluster may invalidate the QSO for DXCC.

The cluster is not meant to spot stations you cannot hear How many times have we seen info like : DX de F6XYZ 21260.0 FK8ZZ No copy in Paris Most of the time, the info was given a few minutes before by someone else who copies the DX; Imagine all the connected stations informing the world they are not copying that DX…The clusters would be full of useless info.

The cluster is not a chat box Limit the use of “announce” and “announce/full” to what is really necessary. Before asking for a QSL manager, search the internet or the cluster itself, typing “SH/QSL DX0AA”. It is likely the info will be displayed, without you to bother the world. Avoid chating with your local friends : use the “talk” command rather than “Ann”.

If you want to inform that you have received a card for a recent Dxpedition and you have been lucky to be one of the firts to receive it, use “ann” rather than spot the DX like :

DX 14000.0 KH8SI QSL received today In that case, remember that the spot will be trated like a real one and computer bells will ring all over the world for those with logging programs indicating that entity is still needed on that band. These guys will hate you forever…

Comments should be info usefull to others, not to your ego. Give the split rather than say 599 or “yesssssssssss first call !”

The cluster is not a parrot Once you have read the info on the cluster, you are lucky to make the contact yourself. There is no need to spot it again, as the whole world already knows that DX is there, and avoid repeats. How many times do we see the same spot repeated 20 times in 5 minutes ?

Many info are wrong in terms of callsign. 6W1XX spotted as BW1XX. The cluster is not a bible, and you should LISTEN for the call on the air rather than fully trust the cluster info

A Dxpedition is not necessarily connected to the cluster network You hear that rare IOTA expedition to P29 on 15m. You need P29 on 17m. Ask them through the cluster to QSY to that band is unlikely to reach them. On a desert island, the expedition is not connected to the web, and they will not see your request. Not only the expedition did not go there just for you, but you will be seen as an selfish by the whole world-wide community.

The cluster is not meant for complaints, at least in terms of spots. Don’t criticize an dxpedition for not beeing on a band you need it on, just listen and they will be there sooner or later. You are not there yourself, and you cannot imagine what circumstances the guys are facing on their side.

The cluster is not meant for you to spot yourself Don’t spot yourself as calling on a certain frequency, even if you have a sked. If you are on a IOTA, someone ill spot you quickly after you show up on the air, your ego will have to bear with waiting for the spot. Imagine every active station spotting themselves : the cluster would be full of useless info.

Don’t spot your next door neighbour, even to say he is calling DX. You hear him Cqing DX, but this does not mean he is heard on the other side. Let some DX spot him instead.

Not everybody is connected to his local cluster It is useless to thank the guy you just worked when you spot him. Hopefully you will have thanked him over the air, and he is not necessarily connected to read your thanks. Send him a QSL better !

The common “Tnx new one” may be nice, but who cares ? Imagine everyone spotting all their new ones…

The cluster is not a copy of your log It is not worth informing the whole world you just worked a common DL on 20m, or a SP on PSK on 17m.

Even a beginner can find this kind of stations by just switching on his rig. It is a wrong excuse to say a beginner needs everything : a beginner must also learn to turn his VFO knob… If there is no DX today, there is no need to feed the cluster with useless local info.

What to spot, what not to spot Common sense should dictate your choices. The desire to help a beginner is a wrong excuse to spot “anything”.

There is no general rule or a list of what to spot. What is rare and of interest is not limited to what you need. Nevertheless..

To work a Ukrainian on 15m PSK is not a fabulous achievement of which the whole world must be informed.

To work Florida on 17m CW may be nice, but should the world know ? Any station has a least one reference for a local award (DOK for DL, zip code for Spain, department for F, county for USA, etc). This does not mean you must spot everything you hear. What are these awards worth if you just need to watch your screen to get them ?

A special prefix can be spotted, without exagerating in terms of repeats. A semi rare US state can be spotted (like Wyoming or the Dakotas) but who needs a spot from New York ?

As a conclusion, I would like to say this is only a point of view. The cluster system is a fabulous technical achievement, but do not forget that everything that goes through it travels the entire world in a matter of seconds. And it is better to find the DX before it is spotted : less competitors, easier to get though… so get to your VFOs !